Although TSMC recently said the defect density of its 40nm technology has already dropped from 0.3-0.4 per square inch to 0.1-0.3, the sources pointed out that the improvement in overall yield still needs more time before catching up with market demand.

To maintain gross margins from the increased cost created by the GPU shortages and rising DRAM quotes, graphics card makers including Asustek Computer, Micro-Star International (MSI), Gigabyte Technology and Tul are planning to increase prices of their products by 5-10%, according to market sources.